 |
|
|
|
Photograph by Ryan Olein
Rock Doctor: Chuck Robertson, who operated his Musical Memories shop downtown in the early '90s, recently returned to the area.
|
The return of the music man
Chuck Robertson's collection of old 45s and other memorabilia has come back to Campbell Avenue
By Cecily Barnes
Chuck Robertson still vividly remembers when his big stroke of luck hit in 1989. He had been selling old records and collectibles in an antique co-op in Willow Glen when a woman approached him. Her brother ran a business servicing thousands of juke boxes in the Northwest. He had truckloads of outdated 45s and records. Robertson and his partner Rich Leier hopped into Leier's mobile home and headed for Idaho.
"For $10,000 we bought a huge collection," Robertson says, emphasizing the word. "He had all this stored on his farm."
Soon after in 1990, Robertson opened Musical Memories on Campbell Avenue. At first he leased a space in the large building next to the Gaslighter Theater, and later moved next door to the spot that now houses Alie's Cafe. After a few years, Robertson was back next to the Gaslighter--in the space the Bruni Gallery just moved into--only this time Robertson leased the entire space.
Business had picked up, and his collection was growing--old records, posters, knick-knacks, 45s, books and anything else anyone might want to collect. But when the rent shot up in 1996, Robertson alphabetized his records in boxes and moved into a shared space in Gilroy called the Red Barn, selling in a co-op and making many transactions over the Internet.
Last week, however, Robertson returned to Campbell, carrying his boxes into his new storefront on the second level of Brian's Custom Framing. His son Brian, who owns the frame-shop, will oversee the sale of Robertson's merchandise. The move brings Robertson full circle, directly next door to his earlier location in Campbell. Coincidentally, Brian first began his frame shop by leasing space from his dad when he was on Campbell Avenue. Now the tables have turned.
"What I'm going to have for sale at Brian's store is only part of the story," Robertson says. "I have over 2,600 collectible records for sale on the Internet. People buy my stuff from all over. In fact I just went to the post office and mailed something to Australia."
Inside the frame shop, Robertson's display begins downstairs in a glass case and moves up the stairwell. There are limited edition Beatles prints for $200, original Elvis sheet music with matching 45s, movie soundtracks and more than 25 boxes of LPs and 45s, mostly oldies.
Besides music, Robertson sells Disney books, lunch boxes, records and other knick-knacks. He has a few McDonald's beanie babies, and a six-pack of Coca-Cola from the 1997 National Hockey League All-Star game at the San Jose Arena.
"There may be stores that are bigger than mine but I focus on quality," Robertson says. "Everything here is like mint."
Robertson spends most of his weekends rifling through people's junk at garage sales, estate sales and flea markets.
A self-described music junkie, he also makes every concert he can. Recently, Robertson saw Billy Joel and the Rolling Stones.
According to Robertson's son Brian, his dad not only has a wealth of products but an incredibly well-indexed memory.
"You can ask him about a song you had in your head from the 1920s and he'd know it," Brian says.
|
|
|
|
Campbell, California
